Thoughts while watching Northwestern beat Pitt in the Pinstripe Bowl on December 28…. This year there were 80 teams competing in 40 bowl games. Not so long ago (for me), in 1990, there were 19 different bowl games and only the major bowl games were played on New Year’s Day.

The BCS Championships and the oversaturation of what has become secondary bowls appear to have drained the enthusiasm swamp for college fans. A number of top football players have concluded these bowl games have no value and will forego them rather than risk injury. Do we need an expanded playoff system?

Thoughts while reading the auto section of the paper….Two headlines of note: Tesla May Lose Electric-Car Lead; and Electric Cars Still Unprofitable. Experienced manufacturers (GM, Ford, Daimler, Honda, etc) are expected to lead the way into the affordable era with a new generation of cars which are about to be introduced. Profits have been elusive (Tesla has posted a loss of $550 million so far) and sales have been helped a tax credit of $7500 which is evaporating. Is there enough momentum and demand for the electric car industry to stand on its own?

President-Elect Trump’s charges of currency manipulation by the Chinese to keep the yuan artificially low

A realization by economists now that the yuan may actually be overvalued

A weak global economy that cannot absorb a surge in Chinese exports

The revelation that China’s banks have been using a sleight of hand to keep $2 trillion in loans off their balance sheets to meet capital requirements (think of what led to the US recession of 2007-2009)

A pressing need for China to reign-in North Korean leader Kim Jong Un;

Thoughts while … Regulatory relief as proposed by the new administration should have a big impact on job growth. I have worked in a highly regulated industry – healthcare – and know firsthand the impact of zealous over-regulation.

FDA regulations relating to the development and commercialization of new life saving medical devices has led to the export of our know-how to other countries since the early 1990s. This is when David Kessler assumed the role of FDA Commissioner and proposed regulating devices the same way we regulate drugs.

And it was at this time that I moved my company’s clinical research to South America. It was either that or going out of business. This was a period fraught with long delays in the approval process and filled with many companies going out of business.

In 1990, bringing a new medical device to the market took 3-5 years and cost about $20 million. Today, the numbers are $100 million and 9-10 years. This has led to a depressed capital market for young US medical device companies and has seriously eroded our global leadership role in medical technology. Other countries (China, India) are moving to fill the vacuum that is growing.

Thoughts while watching NFL players act out…. There are those who unite and there are those who divide. Cheering those who divide does nothing to bind us to one another. Our strength as a nation comes from within…. “United we stand divided we fall.” — Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers

Thoughts while working out…. I have just spoken to a policeman I know who serves a bay area city. I asked him how things were. He told me that it has become very dangerous…people yell at the police every chance they get, and many do not comply with orders. The officers have responded by avoiding dangerous situations for fear that their career and livelihood would go out the window just for doing their job. Lawlessness reigns. Are we now getting the policing we need? Or are we getting the policing we deserve?

Thoughts while working with those that are unemployed or underemployed…. How many American’s understand the negative consequences of the 2,300 page (too large to read and understand) 2010 Dodd-Frank Act to job creation? This has been characterized as ill-conceived regulation that insures “too big not to fail” for large multinational banks and has choked off credit to small business borrowers, particularly to young growth companies which have historically been our job creation engine.

Thomas M. Loarie

Tom comes from a media and communications background. His grandfather, Richard J. Finnegan was co-founder and Executive Editor of the Chicago Sun-Times, and his father, Willard J. Loarie, was an advertising executive at J. Walter Thompson. Educated at Notre Dame, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Chicago, his career passion has centered in saving lives through innovative medical products. As an entrepreneur, he has led many venture capital backed start-ups, bringing to market 20+ innovative medical products across 11 specialties. He has written extensively on medical technology innovation and health care public policy, including articles published in the Wall Street Journal, the Catholic Business Journal, and the Royal Academy of Engineering World Technology Update.